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The girls' father, Mark Wilder, 43, wrote on Facebook: 'McKinley is no longer with us. Kennedy is now with me. The police have taken the suspect into custody.

'I cannot say anymore…and sadly, I
don’t know anymore, except Kennedy is one scared little 5 year old that
misses her baby sister. She found Mickey.'

Wilder
and her estranged husband had been engaged in a nasty battle over
McKinley and her five-year-old sister, with Wilder being given initial
custody.

Mark, an Army
master sergeant of 27 years, said his ex-wife had a history of alcohol
abuse. In court documents he wrote: 'Night after night Denise would
drink a bottle of wine or half a bottle of vodka.'

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He said the children were often dirty and complained of hunger when he picked them up from their mother.

Mark Wilder unsuccessfully ran for the Area 1 seat of the Placer County Board of Education in 2010.

Speaking
at the time he told the Roseville Press Tribune: 'I am running because I
want to make sure the schools are the best they can be before my
daughters enter school.'

He
cited his leadership skills and responsibility as reasons why he should
be elected, adding that he would be willing to give up his military
career.

Wilder's family and friends described
Mark as abusive and full of rage, adding that he led a double life
meeting women online and had a dominatrix fetish.

Scene: The body of McKinley Wilder was found at her grandparent's house on Diamond Oakes Road in Roseville

The couple's divorce was finalised in 2011 amid continuing child custody feuds. Authorities said they had concerns about the girls being subjected to abuse if Wilder and her husband could not find a way to co-parent peacefully.

Following Wednesday’s tragedy Kennedy was taken into custody by the Child Protection Service, before being reunited with her father on Thursday.

Searches were carried out at both the grandparent’s home and the property Wilder rented on Everett Way.

Police carried out bags of evidence but would not discuss what they had found.

A neighbour of Wilder’s parents told the Sacramento Bee: ‘I was like “What the hell is going on there”.'

'It's sad. You have a 2-year-old passes away. Any neighborhood can have a tragedy.’

Helene Miller, who lives close to Wilder’s rental, said the 37-year-old kept herself to herself but seemed polite, adding she had noticed that Mark was no longer around.

'They seemed happy, then all of a sudden, they weren't,’ she said.

Wilder was booked into the Placer County jail in Auburn and denied bail.

She faces child neglect and murder charges, though it is unclear exactly what lead to the child’s death.

Dee Dee Gunther, a spokeswoman for the Roseville Police Department, said: ‘I understand that people want answers because it's a very tragic thing, but people are going to have to wait for the proper time and place.’

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Mother charged in murder of two-year-old daughter after her body was found by her sister, five